Make way, it’s Kitty’s time to shine! Netflix’s much-buzzed-about To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before spin-off sheds light on Lara Jean’s matchmaker sister, as the all-grown-up Kitty makes the move to the South Korean capital of Seoul.
But behind the quirky character is the actress pulling the strings, who’s gaining a well-deserved spotlight of her own. Leading XO, Kitty is the young Canadian star Anna Cathcart, as she steps out of the shadows onto her main lead status. For a 101 on the real-life Katherine Song Covey (Kitty to her friends!), scroll on below.
1. Anna Cathcart is a Gemini.
Anna was born on June 16, 2003 in Vancouver, Canada.
2. Anna Cathcart is of Chinese and Irish descent.
The young actress is half-Chinese and half-Irish, but lived in Vancouver for a chunk of her formative years. When asked what it was like growing up as a biracial kid in the Canadian city, Anna expressed that she felt “loved” and “accepted.”
“I know that isn’t the experience that a lot of biracial people get and I do not take that lightly,” she said in an interview. “Especially where I lived, there’s a really large Asian community… It was never something that stood out in a bad way.”
3. Anna Cathcart is currently a university student.
In between the acting, the teen celebrity still makes time for her education. Anna is enrolled at Vancouver’s University of British Columbia, where she’s pursuing a double major in sociology and creative writing.
Her favorite classes include the gender and sexuality unit of her sociology course. As for her creative writing side, Anna says she leans toward crafting stories catered for children and young adults, with a side of comedy. According to Anna, she fell in love with the genre because of its “performance aspects.”
4. Anna Cathcart went to her first audition at six years old.
The young star’s family is supportive of her acting journey, which can often be a volatile career. She gained footing in her first foray in auditioning at the ripe age of six, when she tried her luck at a commercial for a Little Mermaid Barbie doll.
“I’m so grateful because there’s no way I could do this without my family, all their support and sacrifices,” she said. “It was never a thing of my mom pressing me to do this. It was my decision. We would stop doing it if I wanted to. I’m so lucky.”
5. Anna Cathcart debuted in a popular educational TV series.
Before the To All the Boys franchise came along, Anna was a proud member of a squad of go-getter kids in the children's series Odd Squad. In the show, the then-12-year-old actress played Agent Olympia, one character among a cast of youngins who solved problems using the power of math.
Later on, Anna made the move to the House of Mouse in two of Disney’s Descendants films, where she portrayed Dizzy Tremaine, the daughter of Cinderella’s infamous stepsister Drizella Tremaine.
6. Anna Cathcart was deemed “perfect” for Kitty from the get-go.
During her last audition for To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Anna shared a scene with Lara Jean while watching Golden Girls. According to her, the director and crew members considered her “perfect” for Kitty when she settled on her chair, cross-legged to get comfortable. “I didn’t know something so subtle could make such a difference,” Anna said.
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7. Anna Cathcart was asked to dye her hair for the role of Kitty.
In an alternate universe, Kitty Song Covey might have had different tresses—or a different actress altogether. Due to her natural red-brown hair, the teen star revealed that she was initially asked to dye her hair darker to match her fictional sisters. However, Anna and her family put their feet down and declined, saying that they were wary of her hair not returning to its original shade.
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Despite fearing that she might’ve lost the role, the producers decided to keep Anna and compromised to lighten the hair of Janel Parrish (who played Kitty’s older sister Margot) instead. In hindsight, Anna thought that standing her ground was a “very Kitty thing to do.”
8. Anna Cathcart has a close relationship with her “To All the Boys” sisters.
Anna’s sisterly relationship with the Covey brood isn’t limited to the reel life. The actress revealed that Lana Condor (who played Lara Jean) and Janel are a tightly-knit bunch. The three even have a group chat to keep themselves updated on each other’s lives.
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“We talk about everything. We are always making each other laugh and we are always making jokes and stuff,” Anna said. The young actress also revealed that the two older stars shared their nuggets of wisdom with Anna on forming professional boundaries for her mental health's sake.
9. Anna Cathcart stayed in Seoul for four months while filming “XO, Kitty.”
Her lead role in XO, Kitty was a first for Anna in more ways than one. The monumental acting gig also led her to spread her wings as a young adult, as she was required to live in Seoul for the duration of the series’ filming. At 19, she now lives in her first apartment outside of her parents’ home.
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“I’m going far away from home, meeting brand-new people, and doing something that’s intimidating that I haven’t done in this way before. I’m also in this stage of growing up and [gaining] independence.”
Despite living miles away from home, the series’ filming proved to be a fun time for Anna and the cast behind the scenes. Her co-stars–including Choi Min Young, Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, and Anthony Keyvan–would hang out after work, having karaoke sessions singing BTS songs, visiting each other’s hotel rooms, and eating “buckets of fried chicken.” So cute!
10. You can follow Anna Cathcart on Instagram.
Get the latest updates on the budding star through her Instagram page.
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